Roller skate



A. E. MURRAY ROLLER SKATE Dec. 12, 1950 Filed Dec.

'3 Sheets-Sheet 1 8 EINVENTOR. '54 55 57 Alan 1/. Mal-1 BY MWH ATTORNEY Dec. 12, 1950 A. E. MURRAY I ROLLER SKATE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 11, 1945 INVENTOR. A'Zan E. Marl A TTORIVEY A. E. MURRAY Dec. 12, 1950 ROLLER SKATE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 11, 1945 y W Rd m .M m m mM A Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE ROLLER SKATE Alan E. Murray, New York, N. Y.

Application December 11, 1945,, Serial No. 634,238

5 Claims. 1

My invention relates particularly to the manufacture of roller skates having many advantages over skates previously provided for this purpose.

The object of my invention is to provide roller skates, the construction of which is such as to eliminate the previous disadvantages of such skates. Another object is to provide roller skates with which the skating can be carried out more easily and in such a manner as topermit figure skating to be accomplished more efiectively. Another object is to eliminate the noise of roller skating. A further object is to connect the relatively movable parts of the skate chassis to one another by elastic yielding connections, preferably made of rubber, so as to avoid metal contacts between the relatively movable parts. Still a further object is toaccomplish this by connecting the chassis to the shoe in such a way as to permit relative movement in every direction between the front and rear pairs of rollers of the skate and between the chassis and the skate shoe, while at the same time causing the skate to return always to a normal adjusted position in which the two pairs of rollers lie in the same plane. A further object is to provide adjusting devices between the front and rear portions of the skate chassis by means of which adjustment is provided for in order to return the rollers to a normal plane position, while also permitting placement in positions in which. the rear pair of rollers does not track immediately behind the front pair of rollers, thus permitting the foot of the skater to retain its normal axial position. so that the longitudinal axis of the foot need not coincide with the forward direction of movement of the skate. This also increases the width of the supporting base provided by the skate during the skating therewith. Another object is to provide an adequate union between the front and rear portions of the chassis so as to permit relative angular as well as torsional movement between the front portion of the chassis and the shoe and between the rear portion of the chassis and the shoe. Further objects of my invention will appear from the detailed description of the same hereinafter.

While my invention is capable of embodiment in many different forms for the purpose of illustration I have shown only certa n forms thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a skate and shoe attached thereto, made in accordance with my invention, the shoe in this instance bein constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig, 2 is a side elevation of the same skate shown as attached to an ordinary shoe;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the skate plate of the front portion of the skate chassis, showing the attachment of the shoe of Fig. 1 thereto;

Fig. 4 is an underneath view of the skate showing the adjusting connections between the front and. rear portions of the skate chassis;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of one of such connections, it being understood that any or all of the connection between the front and rear skate plates shown in Fig. 4 can be substituted by the kind of connection shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the skate, partly in vertical section showing the connections between the front skate plate and the roller supporting means, it being understood that the roller supporting means attached to the rear of said plate is arranged in the same manner, but inclined in the opposite direction to the inclination shown in this figure; and

Fig. '7 is an underneath view of the screwsupporting socket attached tothe; front and rear plates of the skate chassis.

Referring to the drawings, especially Figs. 1, 3, l, 6 and 7, I have shown a shoe made to conform to the contours of the foot of the wearer, which is, preferably, made in accordance with the invention asshown in my U. S. Patent No. 2,332,000, granted October 19, 1943, upon Method of Manufacturing Shoes, the same having an upper I and a sole portion 2. Attached to the front portion of the sole 2, by vertical stitching 3, there is provided a front pad 4, and attached to the rear portion of the sole 2, by vertical stitching 5, there is a rear pad 6. These pads 4 and 6 are constructed just alike except for the size and peripheral shape thereof, so a toaccord with the size and shape of a front skate. plate 2 and a rear skate plate 8,- respectively. These pads 4 and 5 being, thus, constructed substantially alike, only one thereof will be described in detail. The pad l is comprised of an upper layer of woven fabric, such as monks cloth 9, bonded all around the edge thereof to a lower layer of monks cloth is by means of latex, by which is meant the usual wellknown water suspension of prevulcanized rubber or rubber substitute, such that when the water is withdrawn therefrom it will become a solid. vulcanized mass of the rubber or rubber substitute. The lower layer of monks cloth IE3 is provided with a transverse slit H through which there is introduced a body of mud made by adding the said later. to wood flour, or other inert filler, until the consistency of a thick mud is attained. After the pad has been filled in this manner the slit H may bfizCiJVBl'fid and sealed by means of a strip of material l2, fastened in place by applying latex thereto, and with or without the strip i 2 there may be provided, also a lacing [3 made of thread or cord t fasten the edges of the slit H securely together. The pad so formed is attached to the underneath portion of the sole 2 by means of the stitching 3 or, if desired, this stitching may be applied so as to secure the upper layer of fabric 9 to the Sole 2 before the lower layer of material it is secured thereto and before the pad i is formed and packed with the filling material. The mode of attachment of the rear pad 6, by means of the stitching 5, can be carried out in the same way as desired. It will also be understood that, if desired, a layer of leather M can be applied covering the entire outside peripheral portion of the pad 4, or the pad 5, by securing the same in place with the aid of a latex coating thereon. The pad 4 having been attached to the shoe in this manner, a plurality of windings of woven fibre cord or a rubber cord I5 can be wound around the upper portion of the pad t or the pad 5 so as to produce a more firm support between the pads and the shoe I while still permitting relative lateral or torsional movement between the pads and between the pads and the shoe. When the succession of windings l5 has been built up to about the width of the remainder of the pad 4 projecting beneath the windings l5, a leather strip 96 may be applied around the periphery of the cords l5 and secured in place by a coating of latex thereon. It will be understood, as above indicated, that the rear pad 6 will be fastened to and supported from the sole 2 in the same manner as just described in connection with the front pad 4.

However, at the front of the skate I may also 7 provide a bumper H which is merely a solidified block of the said mud of latex and wood flour above referred to, and which is secured to the toe of the shoe I and to the front portion of the pad 4 by adhesion with a coating of the latex. The said bumper l'l, if desired, can be provided around the outer portions of the same with a layer of leather l8 fastened thereto by a coating of the said latex. This bumper if can act as a point of support from the floor when the skate is tilted sumciently towards the front for this purpose and so as to enable the skate to come to or remain in a stationary position.

The front skate plate is then attached to the pad 4 and the rear skate plate is attached in the same manner to the rear pad 5, and it will be understood, also, that the mechanical construction of the rear chassis of the skate is the same as the mechanical construction of the front portion of the skate chassis. Therefore, the mode of attachment and construction of only the front portion of the chassis will be described in detail. For this purpose, the front skate plate 'I' is provided with two series of holes 19 and 2t], spaced different distances from the edge of the plate, and provided with a lacing by means of a thong or cord 2! which is passed not only through said holes is and 25 but so as to form horizontal strands 22 extending through the pad 5 from one side to the other thereof.

As shown in Fig. 6, the plate '5 has fastened beneath the same, by means of rivets 23, a chassis bracket 24. The front part of said bracket 24 has a socket 25 which iscompletely overlaid by a sheet-rubber cushion 26 so as to receive Within the same a conical projection 21 located 4 i on an arm 28, carrying a bearing 29 to receive a stationary axle 35, which axle is fastened in place by means of a stationary inner ball-race 3! at each end thereof for supporting ball-bearlugs 32 at each end of the axle, said ball-bearings 32 being supported on their outer sides by means of a stationary ball-race 33 at each end of the axle fastened to a wooden roller 34, by means of which the skate runs on the floor. Each axle 3i], thus, carries a pair of such rollers ed. A hexagonal nut S lo is screw-threaded onto each end of each of the axles to, which is fastened in place by reason of the ball-races 3i and 33 being screw-threaded to the axles 3!]. The arm 28 has an extension 35, in the form of a cup, provided with a large opening 35 surrounded by a recess 37 to receive an annular rubber block 38 through which a long inclined screw 39 passes. The lower end of the screw 35 has a conical head 40 which fits against a dished washer ll resting against a leather washer 42, supported on a thick rubber washer 23 which is pressed slightly into the hole 5 when the screw 39 is tightened in place, by screwing the same into an inclined screw-threaded socket d4 forming a part of the chassis bracket 24 and having a supporting web 5. Between the socket 44 and the rubber plug 33 there is a lock nut 46 overlying a metal cap 6'1 into which the upper portion of the rubber block 38 fits.

It will be noted that the web has a curved recess 48 on the front of the socket M and that the socket 44, on the opposite side, has a curved slot 49 therein. The curved slot 49, furthermore, has a rubber plate 50 located over the same so as to receive a hook 5| on the end of a screwthreaded rod 52 which is secured to the socket 44 by windings of woven fibre cord, which may be interspersed with layers or coatings of latex, or a rubber cord 53. The screw-threaded rod 52 is threaded into a turn-buckle 54 having right and left-handed threads in the two ends thereof and having a hole 55 for the insertion of a tool for adjusting the same. At the rear of the turnbuckle. 54 there is another screw-threaded rod 56 having a hook 51 thereon so that the hook 51 can be attached to the rear part of the skate chassis in the manner just described in connection with the attachment of the same to the front portion of the skate chassis.

As shown in Fig. 4, the front skate plate 1 and the rear skate plate 8 are provided with four, preferably flat, edges 58, 59, 6E and 6|, which are provided with series of vertically directed holes 62, 63, 64 and 65. The said edges 53, 59, 60 and SI are provided with a pair of adjusting devices 66 and 61 the fastening screws of which underlie the front plate in order to adjust the two pairs of rollers 34 torsionally on a median longitudinal horizontal line in the sole 2 acting as a horizontal axis, into exact horizontal position, so that the two axles 30 will always return to said adjusted horizontal position but so as to allow, while skating, a relative torsional movement between the same on an axis extending longitudinally of the skate. This adjustment into an initial horizontal position by means of the devices 66 and 61 is such, however, as to permit, while retaining the two axles 30 in their adjusted positions, a relative adjustment horizontally of the two axles 30 into or out of horizontal parallelism by means of adjusting devices 68 and 69. Also, if desired, the front and rear plates I and 8 can be set on the sole 2 so that the rear left roller 34, for example, will not necessarily track 'ment into a position notcoinciding with the direction of travel of the skate. This permits the foot" to occupy its normal position, as in walking, and, furthermore, permits the skate as a whole to. travel on a wider base than would otherwise bethe case, thus: giving more support from the floor. The adjusting devices 65, 61, 68 and 69 are, preferably, all constructed? sub stan-tially" the same way and only one thereof, accordingly, will be diecribed detail. For in stance the adjustingdevice 68-may be comprised of a- U-shaped'i wire 10, the ends of which pass through holesin a socket H and are fastenedtherein by means of screws t2 and E3 respectively; This socket H has overlying the same a rubber-washer M to support a head 'i't oi a screw 16' having a screw threaded end- W' whi'c is threaded into an annular socket 18 having alocknut 19 thereon. The socket 78 receives the two free ends of a U -shapcd wire 85! which are held in place by screws 8i and 82' in said socket it. It will be understood that the outer" or looped ends of the wires 10 and 88 will pass. through appropriate, holes 62 and 64 and that, by turn ing the screw 15, the desired distance of adjust ment can be attained.

As shown in Fig. 5, instead of theiorm of adjusting devices 66, 61-, S and 69, previously described, I may use merely a plurality windings of rubber cord- 83, the desired adjustment of which can be given by the amount tension applied to the same when being applied tothe skate. Preferably, these rubber cords maybe looped over large hooks 84 having small hooked ends 85 which are receivedin the respective holes 62, E3, 6 1 and 65. 1

As shown in Fig. 2, instead of applying the skate to the shoe made in accordance with my invention, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and instead of or with the pad-supporting devices l, 5, l5 and I1, I may apply the front and rear skate plates l and 8 carrying the front and rear portions of the skate chassis to an ordinary skate shoe 86 by means of pairs of screws 8?, 88, 89 and 90, it being understood, of course, that the said plates l and 8 will be adjustably secured together by means of the adjusting devices 66, 61, 68 and 69 as well as by means of the hooks and attached screw-threaded rods 5|, 52, 56 and 51 secured together by the adjustable turnbuckle 54.

In the operation of my invention, referring first to Figs. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7, the wearer of the roller skates will find, upon using these skates that, in the first place, they are noiseless because of the full rubber cushioning supports throughout, which prevent any contact of relatively movable metal parts while skating. Furthermore, on account of the two adjusting devices 66 and 61 an exact horizontal position for the two pairs of rollers 34 can be attained and by means of the adjusting devices 68 and 59 adjustment within the horizontal plane can be produced to complete parallelism of the two pairs of rollers 34, or other adjustment, in the initial adjustment oi the skates between the two axles 39 thereof. Accordingly, the four rollers 34 of the skate chassis can be adjusted into an exactly even horizontal plane and into horizontal parallelism, which is of great importance in contributing to the ease of skating and in providing a uniformly maintained 6. momentum. In addition, by" the positionseli placementoftheplates. 1' and 8 relative to the sole 2, the track of the rear pair of rollers ill-can be altered towards the left or towards the right of the front rollers, thus increasing the width of the supporting base of the skate while in motion and enabling the natural angular positions oiflth'e two feet of the skater to be approximated the mounting of the skates on the-shoes; l=' tor the respective feet. In other words, the forward direction' of eachparticular foot can be made to suit: the particular wearer of the skates even though the said direction of the foot isnot made parallel to the line of motion of the skate while skating. Again, notwithstanding any or alt oil the adjusted positions into which the respective front. and: rear portions of the chassis may be altered in this way, the front and rear portions. I of the skate are capable of respective movements in difierent relative directions while, however, maintaining the adjusted distances between the adjacent ends of the two axles 30 while the foot is in a horizontal plane. The: skate willalso be capable of the usual turning movement by bending to the right or left due to the changed angularity oi" the supporting chassis to the floor. In: addition thereto, the front andrear plates 1 and 8 and the attached portions of the chassis are capable of a relative torsional movement in a l'iorizontal' axis. Of course, also, the two plates l and 8. are capable of relative elevational movement while skating and due to the. rubber plates M or rubber cords 83 (Fig. 5) or the rubber cords 5'3 -and'i nterspersed latex, the two plates 1 and it are even capable'of relative movementto some extent: in a longitudinal, direction.

Furthermore, by reason of the two pads 4' and i the front: and rear portions of the shoe are capable of relative torsional movement on the shoe: t i-tsel-i' on a horizontal: axis, while also her mittin-g a certainamount of relative elevational movement between the two pads and 6 and even relative longitudinal movement horizontally with regard to each other, and even permitting turning movements of the shoe with regard to the chassis as a whole, including the skate plates 1 and 8, as well with relation to each of said plates 1 and 8. It will be seen that a torsional movement is possible even between the shoe I and each of its pads 4 and 5 owing to the upper narrow oval portion of each of the pads 4 and 6, secured by the sewing 3 and 5 to the sole of the shoe I. In this manner, although the Shoe mounting and portions of the skate chassis are enabled to yield in every direction relatively, except for the maintenance of the adjusted or equal distance between the ends of the two axles 30 when the skate is not in action while in a horizontal plane, and except for the change in the relative angularity thereof in the turning movement while skating, the shoe and the skat will be returned invariably to their original intial idle relative positions after yielding in the various directions, as above pointed out. In this manner, an initial accuracy of adjustment and flexibility of action while skating are attained which would otherwise not be attainable. This makes silence in skating possible, coupled with a freedom of action approaching, and in some respects surpassing, the ease of skating obtainable only in ice skating. The mode of operation of the skate when attached to the ordinary skate shoe 2, shown in Fig. 2, is the same except that the advantages inherent in the mounting of the shoe on the skate, as shown in the other figures, are

not present. However, all the advantages previously described as inherent in the skate itself and in the relative adjustments between the parts of the same are present when the skate is so mounted. While I have described my invention above in detail I wish it to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the same. I claim: i 1. A roller skate, having a skate plate adapted to be attached to a shoe, a bracket on the plate, roller supporting means comprising two arms for the skate supported by the bracket, and elastic yielding means on both said arms maintaining the supporting means out of contact with the bracket, one of said arms having a screw passing loosely through a large opening, overlaid with a rubber washer, a flexible washer and a dished washer, in one of said arms, then through one of the yielding means and into said bracket.

2. A roller skate, having a skate chassis provided with a front portion having supporting rollers and a rear portion having supporting rollers, said front and rear portions having separate attaching means, respectively, for attach- 'ment to a skate shoe, the rollers of said rear portion being so placed as to be normally out of tracking alignment with the rollers of the front portion, and said front and rear portions having a means in common for adjusting the relative tracking positions of said front and rear portions.

3. A roller skate includinga skate chassis, having front and rear rollers, supporting means for the rollers and a skate plate for attachment of the skate chassis to a shoe, said plate having intervening rubber means connecting it to the supporting means entirely without metal contact therebetween and resilient means connecting the front and rear rollers together comprising rubber connecting pieces in the form of rubber cords separated by a turnbuckle.

4. A roller skate comprising a front chassis, and a rear chassis including front and rear rollers, supporting means for the rollers and a skate plate for attachment of the skate chassis to a shoe, said Plate having intervening rubber means connecting it to the supporting means entirely Without metal contact therebetween and resilient means connecting the front and rear rollers together comprising rubber connecting pieces in the form of rubber cords separated by a turnbuckle.

5. A roller skate comprising a front chassis, and a rear chassis yieldingly connected to the front chassis, including front and rear rollers, supporting means for the rollers and a skate plate for attachment of the skate chassis to a shoe, said plate having intervening rubber means connecting it to the supporting means entirely without metal contact therebetween and a resilient means connecting the front and rear rollers together comprising rubber connecting pieces in the form of rubber cords separated by a turnbuckle.

- ALAN E. MURRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 243,761 Cox July 5, 1881 253,735 Marshall Feb. 14, 1882 287,820 Gallaher Nov. 6, 1883 323,405 Elliot Aug. 4, 1885 617,996 Ruel Jan. 17, 1899 1,002,729 Mills et a1. Sept. 5, 1911 1,342,773 Slawinski June 8, 1920 2,086,557 Kaptuller July 13, 1937 2,118,892 Mays May 31, 1938 2,330,338 Dekome et a1 Sept. 28, 1943 

